Quilters reveal hidden story

By Phil Major
publisher@wood.cm
Posted 3/10/22

American history came alive Saturday in the ministry center of the First United Methodist Church in Mineola.

Although perhaps this piece of the nation’s lore may not be as well known as some, it was nonetheless an important lesson for the packed house.

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Quilters reveal hidden story

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American history came alive Saturday in the ministry center of the First United Methodist Church in Mineola.

Although perhaps this piece of the nation’s lore may not be as well known as some, it was nonetheless an important lesson for the packed house.

Eight ladies from the Linden area brought their program on the Underground Railroad that helped Southern slaves escape north in the 1800s, and specifically the codes woven into quilts that helped guide their way.

The Pleasant Hill Quilters meet each Monday in the community center housed in a former Rosenwald School. Thousands of the schools were built across the country, including in Wood County, in a collaboration with Julius Rosenwald, one of the founders of the Sears Roebuck Co., and Booker T. Washington to aid in the education of Black Americans.

The funds raised by the women in the sale of their quilts help to preserve that historic structure. On their way home they hoped to view the former Rosenwald School in Fouke, near Hawkins, as well as the grave and historical marker for Lillian Richard, who rose to fame playing the character Aunt Jemima.

The ladies have pieced a quilt with 12 blocks that show the 10 most prominent of the code quilt blocks along with one of the most important of the minor blocks and one in tribute to Harriet Tubman, who was among the earliest to assist the escaping salves and was portrayed by one of the quilt club members.

The most prominent, the Jacob’s Ladder pattern, is also known as the Underground Railroad block.

It’s pattern can reveal direction of travel and distance.

The quilts might be on clothes lines or fences or in windows.

Another, called the Drunkard’s Path, signifies the escapee should use tactics to throw off pursuers, such as doubling back.

Some of the blocks refer to nature, such as the Flying Geese, signifying time to head north, and the Bear Claw, recommending the journey follow the bear trails as being both out of sight and readily leading to food and water.

In addition to codes held in the quilts, songs also held clues for those planning escapes, often sung in the presence of the slave owners who were unaware that the spirituals held hidden meanings.

For example, a chariot in the song might represent a train as a means of travel.

The program interspersed explanations of each of the quilt blocks with those songs, followed by a rousing rendition from LaWanda Warner, who led the singing.

The women have been giving the program since 2004 to schools, churches, clubs and other groups.

The program was spawned from a book, “Hidden in Plain View,” introduced to them through the Oprah Winfrey book club, and from member Flo Stevenson who acquired one of the old quilts in Montgomery, Ala.